Scholars Raising Image Of Area

June 19, 1985

WHEN FLORIDA`S main industries were agriculture and tourist shucking, the state was not known as a hotbed of college-bound scholars. Much has changed, both in Florida`s economic diversity and the attitudes of many educational institutions.

College recruiters, particularly in the Northeast, are paying more attention to the area and they aren`t all looking for 260-pound tackles with quick feet and hostile dispositions. They are searching for, and finding, high school students more familiar with books than basketballs.

In addition to slick promotional brochures touting the quality of education and lifestyle available at their institutions, they are offering academic scholarships to South Florida`s best and brightest.

Because of changing demographics -- the last of the baby boomers completing their studies, flight from the snowbelt, more teen-agers living in the Southeast and Southwest than Northeast -- educators see the change of recruiting emphasis as the beginning of a 10-15 year cycle.

Another reason Florida`s image as a producer of college-oriented young people has improved is the rapidly increasing number of families involved in high tech industries, banking, and business.

Almost hidden in the number of factors contributing to the state`s prominence in the trend are a dozen encouraging words.

There is a growing perception, says Dr. Peter Likens, president of Lehigh University, that Florida`s much-maligned public school system is improving.